A hearty slice of pizza prog – In conversation with Ferret
It’s been a good few weeks since my last blog feature – I was caught between needing to focus on Eyes to Argus’s album launch (which went great!), and then needing some serious downtime after that. But now that the dust has more or less settled, I’m keen to start working on articles again. And what better way to do that than with a write-up on Ferret, the instrumental prog fusion outfit that writes music for humans, ferrets, and all else in between?
Ferret just released their debut EP, For the Love of Pizza, on the 25th of October via Kewn Records. I’ve been waiting for this to happen for years. My long-term affinity for Ferret stems from the fact that I was in the first iteration of the band, all the way back in 2015 (almost 10 years, already?). My time in Ferret was short-lived but my enthusiasm for the project was definitely not.
And when Ferret morphed into their current line-up a few years back, consisting of original member Anthony Micallef on guitar, Mark Andrew Azzopardi on drums, and Owen Galea on bass, they seriously levelled up. This version of the band took the “Everything and especially the kitchen sink” ethos that Ferret V1 had built as their foundation and really forged their own identity through that.
All this to say that although the wait for an official Ferret release was a long one, it was totally worth it. For the Love of Pizza has all the qualities you’d expect from an instrumental prog album of this kind – it’s over the top, it’s in your face, and unapologetically technical. All the musicians here are precise and pristine. But it’s far from self-indulgent – the riffs, melodies, and even guitar solos are extremely singable and memorable, the song structures all make sense, and nothing is flashier than it needs to be. My guess is that even people who are not typically fans of this style will find For the Love of Pizza tastefully done – pun fully intended. And people who are fans of this style will be bopping their heads to this for a good, long while.
And if you want to bop your heads to For the Love of Pizza live, then you’re in for a treat – Ferret are hosting an EP launch show at Tigullio on the 15th of November, supported by Esteban Medusa, and followed by an open jam hosted by Music Playground. Check out the event for more information!
But before you do that, check out the conversation I had with the boys in Ferret about For the Love of Pizza and their progression as a band leading up to it.
Ferret has been a band since 2015, so you’re releasing your debut EP nine years after your inception. Why is 2024 the right time for the world to hear recorded Ferret music?
Anthony: More like “about time?!”, am I right? Ferret in its current form has been together for more than 5 years. We’ve had some great gigs and wrote some new material in that time. We were meant to release something shortly after 2019, however, COVID put a dent in things, and then there were some departures in our members’ families which led our focus away from the band for a while. Once we were able to meet up and play regularly again, we thought it was the right time to start the process of recording our stuff and start planning a release. This took a bit of time honestly, as we all had to juggle our lives with the band, but we got there. Now we have a much more efficient workflow to make this process a lot shorter for the next one. It’s been a long time coming and we hope everyone enjoys the EP as much as we have.
Why did you choose the EP name ‘For the Love of Pizza’, and how did that translate into the concept behind the artwork?
Mark: Our system for naming things is always very random and spontaneous. “For the Love of Pizza” came about on a random rehearsal day when we were discussing the title of the EP and were probably thinking about pizza at the time.
On a conceptual level, the title references the structure of a pizza. Pizza is mainly made out of dough, toppings, and ultimately the method used for cooking. Ferret in itself acts as the base layer, or the dough component, of our music. When writing our songs, we tend to say phrases like “this is very Ferret” or “this riff doesn’t really fit Ferret”, as we try to stick to that fun and playful vibe as much as we can. But just like any style of pizza can have many different toppings and combinations of them, our toppings are attributed to the key ingredients we each offer to that base layer: our inspirations, our ideas, our musical abilities, our techniques, and the stories we want to tell. Lastly, just like any pizza, it needs to be cooked, and we constantly strive to cook, or execute, our songs as best as we can, but we always give enough leeway to play around and improvise if needed, just like there is no one method to cook said pizza. Everyone has different ideas of what a good pizza might be; its base, its toppings, its cooking method, so we embrace that subjectivity within our music and the way we approach songwriting.
The concept behind the artwork is a visualization of that principle, where we are sharing a “slice” of what Ferret has to offer. The slice is made up of the 5 songs that are present in the EP. Each song offers different types of toppings according to the stories that each song is telling. From the swampy, green, and unappetising, to the space meteor cheese chaos, there is something for everyone. We wanted the artwork to be fun, playful, and full of colors, and the artist (Daniele Sapuppo) managed to convey all of that perfectly.
Ferret has changed 2/3s of the line-up over the years. Anthony is the sole original member left but Owen and Mark have both been in the band for many years now. How has your approach to songwriting as a unit evolved from the days when you were settling in as a new line-up to now that you’ve built a unique and long-standing chemistry together?
Anthony: Ferret basically started as a jam between friends at first. We met at a garage and jammed out riffs that maybe didn’t exactly fit the bands we were currently in. This became a fun weekly thing where we used a lot of my unused riffs that I still felt had a lot of potential. Although there was always input from the members, the bulk of the riffs came from me as I used to prepare pretty much the whole skeleton of the song.
The new line-up with Mark and Owen is a much more democratic process in which we all meet up and have a riff, idea, or motif, and we explore it collectively and build a song together. We jam a lot to experiment and also just for fun, but since everyone has gotten used to communicating while playing, a lot of amazing things tend to come out.
Our current approach to songwriting can sometimes take a bit longer to develop since it requires equal input from all members of the band, however, the end result is a strong testament to our collective identity as Ferret. It’s not just a song by Anthony, Owen, or Mark; it truly embodies our collaborative spirit and showcases what we create together as a unit. This approach ensures that the final product reflects our shared vision and sound. We all push each other to be better and find different ways to tackle challenges and it’s been incredibly rewarding working with Owen and Mark, and I feel that we all complement each other musically.
‘For the Love of Pizza’ is a 5-track EP. How did you decide on which tracks made the cut? Is there any material that almost made it to the EP, or that you plan to record at a later date?
Owen: When it came to selecting tracks for ‘For the Love of Pizza,’ we really focused on breaking the mold of our previous material. We wanted to be very selective about what we kept from our older songs, ensuring that it aligned with our current sound and style. Ultimately, we decided to include just one track from our past, while the other four are fresh compositions that reflect our current lineup. Each member contributed to the writing process, and we spent a lot of time refining transitions and phrases to create a cohesive final product.
We did consider including some of our newer songs, but we felt that they represented a more evolved version of our sound – what we like to call the 3.0 version of Ferret. We’re excited about that direction and plan to explore it further in our next release. For now, we’re thrilled with the EP and can’t wait for everyone to hear it!
You’ve never wavered away from your commitment to being an instrumental band. Is writing music without vocals second nature to you at this point, or do you still find challenges when composing? How have you overcome such challenges in the past?
Mark: Speaking personally, I think the instrumental part of Ferret is what makes us unique and offers fewer limitations to what we can do musically. All of us have really embraced being an instrumental band at this point and we all understand and accept both the benefits and challenges of writing instrumental music. While we always want to tell a story in our songs, we also all like to have the opportunity to showcase some new technique or some cool section that we came up with while jamming. We are primarily instrumentalists that work together to write a song and tell a story.
We know that instrumental music, especially within the “prog” category, tends to be more complex in terms of changes, transitions, and progressions, while also having moments where one single instrument shines above the others, which offers an opportunity where the audience can appreciate that specific instrument a bit more. We really try to incorporate all of this in our songs but also we work really hard to avoid being overwhelming to our listeners. We always think about crafting interesting dynamics in a song with highs, lows, quiet bits, chaotic bits, tension, and resolution, all key sections to make a good instrumental song. Ultimately we want our music to be accessible and fun to listen to by anyone, not just fans of the style.
Adding vocals to our music was always an interesting prospect, and we always felt that it would limit our creativity and turn Ferret into something that fundamentally it is not. But we don’t like to close doors and limit ourselves, so we’d definitely love to collaborate with vocalists in the future.
And most importantly of all, what’s your pizza of choice?
Mark: A Neapolitan-style wood-fired Margherita - simple but with the highest quality ingredients and cooking methods.
Owen: Pepperoni, extra chili, mushrooms & onions, all styles appreciated.
Anthony: Spicy pepperoni!!!